Downward flight
BLEAK future awaits the aerospace engineering departments of the five Indian Institutes of Technology (11TS), which played a key role in the development of light combat aircraft, missiles, launch vehicles and satellites. The HT managements have initiated a move to scrap the undergraduate aerospace engineering courses. The reasons cited by the management are the resource crunch faced by the IITs and the indifference of bright youngsters towards a career in aeronautics.
According to an 11T document, roughly 20 out of the 200 students of aerospace land up in the aeronautical industry. Nearly 40 to 50 emigrate mainly to the us, about 60 students secure jobs in the commercial software industry while the remaining opt for management jobs. All those opting for non -aeronautical fields are getting double salaries than those in the aeronautical industry. As fewer and fewer students are keen on taking up jobs in the aeronautical sector, the faculty members are beginning to feel that their efforts are being wasted.